The present invention relates to an anchoring system for installing exterior materials to a building structure particularly suitable for when the exterior materials are to be spaced at a distance from the structure.
The use of insulation as a component of a building is now widely practiced to obtain better comfort and to conserve energy used for heating and cooling. However, if the insulation is placed between the structure and internal walls various problems can arise due to water condensation within the wall. There are also limitations of available wall constructions.
One solution to this problem is to place the insulation material outside the building structure. This method also gives a protection to the structure from the expansion and contraction caused by the temperature change at the various time of the year. Moreover, a building built with heavy materials such as concrete will store heat when the insulation is placed outside the structure.
Other benefits of having the exterior material cover the insulation material placed outside of a building structure include fire proofing and water proofing from the outside. Additionally, there are advantages in the weather proofing and protecting the structure from exterior impacts. Furthermore, the exterior materials would allow for a wide variety of design possibilities.
However, insulation materials are usually soft and can not hold heavy exterior materials. Also, the exterior materials placed at a distance from the structure exert great downward forces and are difficult to attach to the supporting structure. Consequently, these problems restrict the type of exterior materials that can be attached to an existing building structure, especially at distances from the structure, even though this would be ideal from the building science point of view. It also becomes difficult to attach and support exterior materials to a building structure. It is therefore important to have a connection system that is strong enough to support these exterior materials without being too difficult to attach.
One proposed system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,257,490 issued Nov. 2, 1993, to the present applicants, which provides an anchoring system for installing exterior materials to a building structure. The system comprises a separator rod having two ends, and a nut joint embedded in a hole in the side face of material to be attached to the structure. The nut joint has means for receiving and holding one end of the separator rod while allowing the other end of the separator rod to extend from the side face of the material to be attached to the structure. The system includes an anchoring device for mounting into a hole of the structure, the anchoring device having a receiving aperture dimensioned to receive the other end of the separator rod. The anchoring device further comprises rachet means for allowing the other end of the separator rod to advance into the receiving aperture but for inhibiting movement of the separator rod out of the receiving aperture.
While the system disclosed in this U.S. Pat. No. 5,257,490 provides a convenient way to install exterior building material having a nut joint embedded in the exterior building material, a system more particularly suited for applying lath and mortar to a building structure is desired. The present invention fulfills this need.